Blackfire Torch

New Recipe: Kage's Lucky Pick + Haunting Guise
Total Gold Cost: 2950 (combine cost: 700)
+70 Ability Power
+250 Health
Unique Passive: +15% Cooldown Reduction
Unique Passive: +20 Magic Penetration
Unique Passive: Your spells burn for an additional 5% of the target champion's maximum Health in magic damage over 3 seconds. Each second burned consumes a charge. One charge is generated each second.

With this new item recipe, it no longer grants the same health, any mana, and the passive seems to have been nerfed.

Ryze players often go 9/0/21, and have 40% CDR without Haunting Guise, so the CDR is often useless, because FH is a much better item on Twisted Treeline.

My question is, is this actually a nerf or am I just fooling myself because I'm scared of changes?

Many games can snowball and end before Ryze can even get a core item or two. He has a weak early game, needs items, and is one of those champions you lend blue buff to on SR.

He also has no innate escape mechanic, has trouble farming early, and starts out squishy.
If the enemy let's him get farmed up and/or fed and roll them they did something wrong... or it's a good Ryze player.

Ryze wouldn't really need BFT til later on anyway (arguably), yet still benefits from Catalyst sustain and its upgrades, so I don't think this change hurts him too much.

Ryze is widely considered a bad 3v3 to begin with. AP items should never be built on Ryze anyway, except Void Staff as a 4th or 5th item. Blackfire Torch was a waste of money for Ryze before, even more so now. Ryze shouldn't be going 21 into utility as well, the utility tree is really bad in general, especially in Twisted Treeline, the 4 points for extra mana are barely worth it. You're better off 9/21/0 honestly, at least then your early game would suck less (which is Ryze's only weakness).